With play areas that hold an interest for children aged five to 16 years and a stream of programmes, Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park is a great activity centre for kids. It is among the few picnic spots and tourist venues located in the heart of the City.
In fact, the Department of Tourism ranks Bal Bhavan among the must-sees in Bangalore City. Whether during the holiday season or a weekday, Bal Bhavan has a fair share of visitors everyday.
However, most people only stroll around and leave.
No maintenance
Very few actually take their children to the play area and several others watch the toy train chug along, but don’t want to send their kids on a joy ride. Why? Primarily because of the lack of proper maintenance and cleanliness.
Also because more adults seem to want to hop onto the toy train (meant for children) and recall their childhood days as they gaily hop from the swings to the slides, the see-saws and the merry-go-round!
Litter everywhere
While visitors start arriving at Bal Bhavan by 11 am, the cleaning staff also start their day at the same time. If you are an early bird, you’d be shocked to find the place littered with the previous day’s garbage dumped everywhere.
Again, the mess is cleared only after noon, since there are only six sweepers to clear off the entire mess, covering the train station, the pathways, the play areas and the small patches of green with bamboo shoots.
Health hazard
Further, the garbage is dumped right next to the play areas within the Bal Bhavan premises. There is an area for boating activity and to get there you have to cross a bridge over a drain that holds stagnant water. This is a health hazard as the water is not without mosquitos and other insects. The boating pool itself is not clean. You can see paper, plastic and wrappers of snack packets floating on it.
Added to all this, is the complete lack of basic civic sense among people who visit Bal Bhavan. Not only can adults be seen using equipment in the children’s play areas, they also take the lead in throwing garbage just about anywhere, besides washing their hands and spitting. All this even as dustbins have been placed at convenient intervals. Shouldn’t adults teach children good habits? Shouldn’t civic sense be a part of daily life itself?
In a city which is fast losing its green cover, it should be a matter of urgent concern to take sufficient care of such centres and After all, this really is one place where children can have fun without burning a hole in their parents’ pockets.
